I’m up before the chickens this morning. A fire is blazing in the fireplace gradually running the chill out of the house. My hot tea is on the table next to me cooling enough for me to sip. Bella is roaming the house making sure no boogers are hiding in the shadows. My sweetheart and Emma are still asleep. It’s a perfect time to share the Crazy Quilting for Newbies gray study round robin blocks I’ve worked on the past two months.

All the stitching in this picture was done by me. Barbara is truly a tough act to follow!

The next rotation of the Gray Study belonged to Lori. I also followed Barbara on this block. This is an overview shot of the

work I did on Lori’s block.

Close up of spider and web…The spider is made of a tiny silk fabric yo-yo. I stuffed the yo-yo with a bit of cotton before gathering it closed. It’s the first I’ve made this way…and the first spider I’ve seen anywhere online made this way. Is it possible I came up with something original?

This shot shows the beaded dragonfly and ric-rac seam treatment.

I also added a paisley motif, the seam treatment below it and the pretty Venice lace fan. I added velour thread fly stitch, detached daisy stitch, and bullion stitch texture to the bottom right patch.

My CQJP 2013 July block was also done in gray monotones. By the time I completed it I wondered what on earth I was thinking choosing gray for a personal project when I’m in a gray monotone color study rr. (I’m running a bit behind on my CQJP…)

Spider web and spider…I liked the yo-yo spider I made on Lori’s block so much I made one on mine.

I finally decided what to do with the All Things Pretty Do Your Block that came home naked. I used pretty Venice lace motifs painted by Nicki Lee for the focal point of the block and surrounded them with pretty bits of lace and stitching. I used the buttonhole stitch, feather stitch, stem stitch, bullion stitch, fly stitch, chain stitch and herringbone stitch on this wee block. Finishing this block completed a set of six, six inch blocks constructed in coordinating fabrics. I’m not sure I shared the other five so I really need to do an All Things Pretty post.

My final share for the morning is a snowball I received from Kristie. I love it…her butterfly is Kristie made and so fine. I love each element. The anchor fabric has the sweetest little yellow bird. Kristie overstitched it making it really stand out. I can almost hear it sing. Her stitches are even and fine. I love the way Kristie brought all the colors together in harmony. In short…I love my new snowball!

Until next time…

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

Making it around to my blog has been next to impossible for over a month now. I’m very behind in sharing the crazy quilting things I’ve received or worked on. This day is not fit for man nor beast outside so maybe I can manage getting a post up when I take a break from pickle making. Would you believe I found over thirty pounds of pickling cucumbers…fresh and pretty…in December? You may, but I was amazed. I believe finding the cucumbers was a huge hug from God. My pickle stash was almost gone, and He knew I needed the cucumbers to make more. (God definitely cares about the little things.) Now back to crazy patch…but I had to praise God for His goodness.

A while back I took part in a three-way heart swap. One was from Stephanie and the other was made by Cris. I’ve not yet shared it. It’s another beauty.

I also swapped a heart with Marianne…she said she loves it, but o how I wish I could make changes to it now. I’m not at all happy with the work I did on the top portion of the heart. Still, it was made with love and well received. I don’t know why I didn’t trim it before I took the picture and mailed it Marianne…

Since my last round robin update I’ve taken my turn on two blocks and mailed them on their way to the next stitcher. I worked on a Kate Greenaway block and a gray study block. I’m trying to add something I’ve never done before on any block I work on (after testing it on a doodle cloth).

The Greenaway block belongs to Nark (Nancy from Arkansas). It’s from the Kate Greenaway Round Robin going on at WWCQ. The block is made completely of beautiful silk. I don’t seem to have a picture of her whole block so I am sharing close-ups of the work I did. Here is one taken before I started working on the it.

I beaded a grape vine on Nark’s block. This is the first time I’ve stitched a beaded grape vine on anyone’s rr block. I love the outcome and hope Nark will, too. The technique is one I learned from Nancy Eha’s Bead Creative Like Crazy. I also stitched the scalloped seam treatment with detached chain and bead flowers.

This shot is a close-up of the spider web and spider I added to Nark’s block. I also stitched the sheaf stitch above the spider web to embellish a tiny seam and the seam treatment below the web. For it I used the straight stitch, bullion stitch and colonial knot.

The last picture shows an overview of the work done by me. I also added the pretty Nicki Lee Venice lace butterfly.

What started out to be a short post has ended up being a bit long so I am going to close this one out and share the gray study in another post. I didn’t realize I’ve completed two gray blocks rr blocks and a one gray one of my own (my July CQJP 2013 block…I’m a wee bit behind) without posting them.

Until next time…

Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Hebrews 1:3

Since my last post I’ve completed my share of two round robin blocks. Both blocks are from the Kate Greenaway round robin at World Wide Crazy Quilting. The first block I worked on belongs to Diane. It winged it’s way on to the next stitcher earlier this month. The second belongs to Carol. I enjoyed working on both blocks and tried something new or used a technique I have not used in a long time on each block.

Diane’s block…I was first to stitch on Diane’s block so it was up to me to set the tempo. Because Diane used a bright fabric as a highlight, I capitalized on that color.

Diane’s block after me…

The theme for this RR is Kate Greenaway, so I transferred a line drawing illustration by Ms. Greenaway and stitched it in redwork style. I’m not sure why the little girl was jumping in Kate Greenaway’s illustration, but I added a couched jump rope for effect. I also added a Nicki Lee Venice lace and embellished it with orange seed beads to pick up the orange color in the anchor patch. One of my favorite stitches is the feather stitch so I used it on the seam above the flower and embellished it with seed beads and colonial knots. I added a piece of green, cotton lace and worked a line of buttonhole stitch and detached chain stitch along the straight edge. Seed beads embellish the lace.

I adore spider webs and am fascinated by spiders in real life. A crazy quilt block is not complete to me without one of each so I added one to Diane’s block. I also added a stem stitch vine along the left seam and embellished it with tiny silk ribbon flowers and leaves. It has been a long time since I’ve used silk ribbon, and I enjoyed stitching with it.

The butterfly is another lace piece painted by Nicki Lee. I hope someone adds some beads to it before it flies home to Diane. My final addition was the pretty lace piece along the right corner patch seam. I stitched a row of Cretan stitch along the top. The lace just seemed to belong to Diane’s block.

That’s a wrap for my work on Diane’s block. Next up is Carol’s block.

Carol anchored her block with a Kate Greenaway silkie and asked for a theme reminiscent of a gentler time…childhood. Though I toyed with the idea of embellishing the silkie, I never came up with a plan for it so I left it for someone else. Diane was the first stitcher and sent Carol’s block on to me.

After Diane…She added lovely feminine touches to the block.

Carol’s block after me…It’s likely feminine blocks are my favorite to work on so I pulled out some pretty laces and pink and powder blue stuff and let my work begin. It flowed. I love it when the stitching flows. 🙂

I added more pretty white lace following Diane’s lead and embellished it with blue straight and fly stitches, pink seed beads and pretty oval pearl. The blue accent beads and sequins were already part of the lace.

Next I added a feather stitch seam and patch treatment and embellished it with more pink seed beads and colonial knots. This view also focuses on my blue silk ribbon embroidery irises and the chain stitch seam embellished with pretty pearl beads. The sweet little blue bird is one I bought from Thearica’s Crazy Quilting Supply shop. It fit perfectly in the tiny triangle that edges the anchor patch. I also added the blanket stitch along the seam.

Finally, I added another piece of white lace and embellished it with (you guessed it!) pink seed beads and Farago silk ribbon roses. Because Carol wanted her block to be sweet and a reminder of the gentle days of childhood I resisted the urge to add a spider web and spider. It took a lot of self control…but I managed. 🙂

I hope Diane and Carol will both be pleased with the work I did on their blocks, because I thoroughly enjoyed working on both of them.

Until next time…

This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.” (1 John 5:6)

Soon a study in gray round robin will begin in one of the crazy quilting groups I belong to. Today I pulled out the gray fabrics I’ve collected (with a little help from my friends) and put my block together. I used cottons, dupioni, and few fancy fabrics of unknown fibers. The block went together smoothly…no stress. I love it when that happens. All in all, I am pleased with it. I hope the ladies who embellish will feel the same way.

I’m sharing several pictures to show the fabric patterns and textures.

Left upper corner:

Right upper:

Left Lower:

Right Lower:

Center (anchor):

I look forward to seeing what the ladies in my group will do with my block…and finding out who they will be. The next time you see my block it will be all decked out with beautiful stitching.

All the round robins I have been in so far this year have come full circle. On the first day of September a new one will begin. Yesterday I constructed the block I will send around the country for other stitchers to embellish. There are five of us in this group. Only one of the stitchers has been in a round robin with me in the past. It will be fun to see each lady’s work up close and personal…I learn so much from other people’s work.

Our theme is Kate Greenway, an English artist and illustrator of children’s books. She lived in the 19th century and died in 1901. The picture I chose reminds me of spring…of May Day. My printer was very low on cyan so it did not print true to color, but I liked the pink product and went with it. It gave my block a Victorian look and seemed appropriate for the theme.

This picture is not particularly true to color either…

Close-up of the silkie I used as an anchor piece. I usually use a 5-sided anchor but could not make that method work with this picture.

Hopefully the mailman will deliver a block for me to work on next week. I’ve missed my round robins. They are pretty habit-forming.

Soon I will make another post to share two crazy quilt hearts I received this past week…I love them both. Sadly the heart I made and mailed to Angie on the 19th of this month still has not made it to her house. It looks like I will be making a new one for her to replace the lost one. 😦 I broke my own “rule” of always getting a tracking number before mailing something I worked hard, and to avoid a trip to town I mailed it from home. Never again. I’ve learned my lesson well. I do hope the heart has just dilly-dallied around and will still find Angie’s house, but it is seeming pretty unlikely.

Until next time…

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. (Hosea 4:6)

Once again days have turned into weeks since my last post. My dear husband and I took a trip to north Arkansas for a few days for a little rest and relaxation. While we were visiting that part of the country we had the pleasure of visiting with my crazy quilting, online friend Hollie and her husband Mark. (picture of Hollie and me in the post before this one) When we returned home we needed a few more days of rest and relaxation to revive from the road trip…If you are over fifty, you know what I’m talking about.

When we went out of town we left our dogs at home with our oldest daughter. They love her dearly, and we never have to worry about them when they are in her care. Our Great Dane started getting very finicky about eating while we were gone this time, and when we returned things went downhill from there. We were hoping he was just being sensitive, because we left him and he would soon return to normal. His hips had been getting bad for a while. He showed signs of old age. I’ve seen the “handwriting on the wall” for several months. On Tuesday of last week he completely stopped eating. Nothing I offered him would entice him to eat. On Monday of this week we called our vet in to euthanize him. He was beginning to show signs of suffering, and we had to gulp up the courage to do what was best for him. Hence…the broken heart. Bubba was a great dog and will be missed greatly.

Moving on to crazy hearts…Late last week a crazy quilting friend’s husband passed away. My words are not adequate for expressing the sorrow I feel for her loss. I’ve never walked that mile…I can only imagine the pain she is feeling. This heart will be embellished with her in mind, and I will send it to her. Hopefully I’ll have it completed and ready to go by weekend’s end.

The next heart is for a one on one heart swap…just because. I constructed it a little bit bottom heavy and have not decided how I will handle that.

Speaking of one on one swaps…My friend Pam and I have entered into a one on one block swap. We chose an 8 inch block. Each of us made a naked block and exchanged them to embellish and return home.

Here is the one Pam sent to me. She dyed all the fabrics herself. Aren’t they lovely. The colors are vibrant…brights are her favorite.

The block I sent to her is made of fabrics in far more muted colors…The trim along the edge of the curved patch was salvaged from a thrift store pillow case. I call this block “two friends” because of the silkie I used for the anchor patch.

Last but not least, I worked on the final block I will angel stitch for in the World Wide Crazy Quilting encrusted RR. The block belonged to Carol. For my part I stitched the vine on the long blue patch, added stitching to the existing stitching on the anchor patch, and added the spider web and spider. I tried a different web-making technique and have not decided if I like it as well as couching the web.

Before I go I want to announce my next giveaway. Robbie Fields has generously offered to share two sets of her Creative Stitchery Success Strips to be given away one set at a time on my blog. I will be featuring her success strips in a post very soon (or as soon as I can manage to get another post ready). I recently bought a set of these strips from Robbie after hearing about them from several of my very accomplished stitching friends. I’m so glad I did, because they make it so simple to space my embroidery stitches evenly and give them a more professional look. That’s a big plus when stitching compound-stitch, seam treatments. I think every crazy quilter should have a set of these great stitching tools, and I have to wonder why I waited so long to buy them. Click on the link and see how affordable they are.

Just for the record, I am hosting this giveaway because I really like the strips. Robbie did not ask me to. Only after I asked her if she minded if I featured her strips on my blog and told her I wanted to give a set away did she offer to furnish the sets. I appreciate her generosity. I expect nothing in return for hosting the giveaway. It is my intention to share a wonderful stitching tool with those who are not aware of it.

Until next time…

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. (Revelation 1:8)

Yesterday the TAT RR block I mailed out in February arrived back home. I love it! Four ladies from around the United States worked on it…I appreciate the work each one did. Here are some pictures of my beautiful block.

When it left home in February it was completely unembellished…

Sue U. (Kentucky) started out adding lace, beads and stitching to the right lower corner…She also stitched the lovely seam treatment to the left of the laces and added a lace butterfly and another piece of lace that is not pictured in this view.

Lower right:

My block’s next stop was with Sue S. in Missouri. She added the three-flower grouping and beads to the dark triangular patch and the seam treatment to the left of and above the patch. Sue also stitched the vine and button motif on the lighter patch in the left of this picture. It can be seen in full in another shot.

After Sue S. my block went on to Montana where Cris R. did angel work on my block. (Angel work is really special, because the stitcher does not have a block in the RR.) Cris and I have a love of stitching spider webs and making friendly fantasy spiders in common. She gifted me with a fine spider web and biteless spider on the anchor patch of the block. Cris did a lot of work on my block, because two dear ladies were unable to complete the RR due to circumstances beyond their control. More of her work is “scattered” throughout my block.

Center…

After Cris worked on my block she sent it on to Angie C. in New Hampshire. Angie added lots of pretties. She centered on the upper part of the block. Angie couched a piece of rick rack in place using straight stitches and French knots. She stitched the paisley motif with a silk ribbon and beaded sequin “tail” and added a seam treatment of lazy daisy stitches. She added a lovely feather stitch vine embellished with silk ribbon, seed beads, and woven leaves. (Feather stitch is one of my favorites.) Angie also added the cool button in the top right corner. She said if I don’t like it to feel free to removed it. Not a chance!

Again, thank you to the ladies who worked on my block. I really like it and appreciate every stitch you made.

Until next time…

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52